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It's been a month since Street Fighter 6 was released. This is the first title among the biggest fighting games that we expect to happen this year. Mortal Kombat will be available in a couple more months, and Tekken 8 is also somewhere near, although the official release date is not set. While the fans of these two franchises wait, the Street Fighter player base is having a great time playing. While one month is not remotely enough to figure out the whole game balance, we can draw our first conclusions regarding the early state of meta. In this article, we will talk about four characters which are currently really strong and can be more valuable than others during multiplayer grinding.
Cammy White
Cammy is a character that perhaps went through the most drastic changes since Street Fighter V. For many years, her personal story revolved around the evil organization Shadaloo and her as well as other soulless assassins who M.Bison brainwashed.
In Street Fighter 6, this story seems to be in the past. That is even reflected in Cammy's appearance: she no longer wears her iconic green leotard and red beret, which were a part of her for around 30 years (Did you know that she was introduced in Super Street Fighter II in 1993?). Now she prefers a blue jacket with a comfortable sports top and pants, and the overall color palette of her clothes resembles the Union Jack, considering Cammy is working with British intelligence.
What stayed the same was her rushdown playstyle. Cammy is an excellent choice for players who like to suppress their opponents. Her attacks are effective, and her mobility is outstanding and the whole game balance changes in her favour. In Street Fighter V, Cammy was a strong but flawed character. In Street Fighter 6, she looks unstoppable and dominates different tier lists.
Juri Han
Juri is another fan favourite, although her changes are less drastic than Cammy's. In Street Fighter V, she was considered a really strong character, and in the newer title of this legendary franchise, she wasn't left out of meta either. When WWE superstar Zelina Vega appeared in the women's Royal Rumble Match cosplaying Juri Han, we knew that the Street Fighter 6 developers wouldn't forget about her.
The master of Taekwon-Do, she is somewhat similar to Cammy in the sense that both are rushdown characters. What differs is the instruments to achieve that. Juri players must embrace her chaotic yet energetic personality if they want to succeed. She has unpredictable projectiles that can be an excellent set-up for full-fledged close-attack combos.
While Cammy's play style can be described as quick yet precise attacks, Juri's pressure is more like a chaotic barrage of attacks. If you love adapting and changing scenarios on the fly, Juri might be your choice.
JP
Let's move away from the rushdown characters. JP, aka Johann Petrovich, made his debut in Street Fighter 6. He is the head of the international Non-Governmental Organization… and that's basically everything we know about him.
This older gentleman is different from your typical character. Why do you need to actively throw punches and kicks when you can manipulate space? His "reality tears" enable JP to summon shades or teleport. Judging by this feature, his most effective playstyle is zoning an opponent.
JP is a difficult character to learn, but, at the same time, he is fun to play. His abilities frustrate opponents, especially if they are not experienced. Across all social media, we could see lots of complaints about JP being overpowered. However, as time passes, more players adapt to its play style. Right now, he is still a great choice to climb the multiplayer ladder.
Marisa
From one of the most complex characters, we are moving towards one of the most beginners-friendly. Marisa is another debutant in the Street Fighter franchise. She is a jewellery designer who also loves greco-roman wrestling (despite having such a name, the basic rules of such style were proposed by Jean Exbaryat, a soldier of Napoleon's army).
Marisa is very natural in this type of wrestling and looks forward to claiming the title of number one worldwide. Despite being slow, Marisa has decent stats in both attack and defence. Her range of attacks is also above average, and you want to avoid her grabs. That skill set makes her an excellent choice for beginners since it doesn't require that much precision and difficult decision-making. Sometimes the simpler, the better.
In conclusion, the current meta favours an attacking style of play. However, there are still different ways to achieve victory. Whether it is suppression through the rush down, causing the headache through zoning or simply grabbing an opponent and beating the hell out of them in close combat — the choice is yours and only yours. Good luck, and have fun in the game!